http://lusherschool.org/
While looking at middle school websites for this blog, I suddenly remembered the Lusher School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Back when my husband was still my boyfriend, he went to law school in New Orleans, and I used to visit frequently. He lived in a neighborhood Uptown called Carrollton, and while walking around this neighborhood, I used to see the Lusher Charter School often. I was struck then by what a beautiful, sweet little campus they seemed to have. At one point I saw them engaged in what turned out to be their annual crawfish boil, which looked like a great community builder!
When I checked out their website, I was really in awe of their organization. The website above covers the entire Lusher community, which consists of a Lower School, a Middle School, and a High School. Most of the sections on this website will have subsections on their middle school, so as you click around, you get a feel for how committed these folks are to their students.
There were tons of hallmarks of a quality middle school: team teaching, block schedules, project-based learning, etc. All of this indicates that their curriculum emphasizes active, purposeful learning. In addition, they have a huge emphasis on exploratory, which I think is lacking in a lot of public schools. Kids can choose to do dance, music, theater, visual arts, whatever they like. They even have a program called Art After Hours, in which professional artists from the community come in to do a variety of art with the kids from 3:45-5:30. (So there's partnering with the community). They are also partnered with Tulane University, and their high school students can take courses there for credit FOR FREE. Talk about community partnerships! Oh, and speaking of staying after hours, their teachers all have "office hours" twice a week, where they stay after school to help students who need it. Talk about instructors who value young adolescents and are committed to educating them! Oh, and their entire curriculum is vertically aligned, since they are one organization from Kindergarten through grade 12. They have a specific section on their middle school and how it is purposefully designed for the developmental needs of that age group. Oh, and parent involvement! Every parent of every student is automatically a member of the PTSA. Their website has a parent section describing numerous opportunities to get involved.
This website made me want to quit my job, move to New Orleans, and teach at Lusher. Much of their mission statement matches almost word-for-word with "This We Believe". If you'd like to see a work of educational art, please check out this website!
Let me start by saying that I am a fan of New Orleans. It is such a unique town full of culture and diversity. You can really tell that this school cares about their students and the task at hand. You mentioned the exploratory programs, which are amazing! I sometimes feel that kids in small towns, or small states, get stiffed because they do not have the opportunities of those living in large cities or suburbs. The charter schools get much more room to alter their schedules as well, so kids are exposed to so much more. I want to focus on the article at the bottom of the home page. It mentioned that Jerome White solved the parallel parking problem using math. I was curious, so I clicked on the article link to learn more...so glad I did. Jerome is a motivated teacher, who does whatever he can to make math fun! He creates songs about math using current pop culture tunes for the music! I love this one: I solved for X and I liked it! Brilliant!!!! In the article it discusses how he took math and applied it to an every day situation. This follows TWB because he is making the learning relevant. How lucky Lusher is to have such a great teacher on staff! Thanks for the website Amanda!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading your post, I found myself just dropping my mouth a little bit further down after each of your 'Oh' s!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis school is on top of its game. I'm telling ya, they mean business. The free courses blew me away. Teachers having office hours BLEW ME AWAY. Everything you mentioned in your post was just a perfct fit to following so many TWB characteristics.
I found myself connecting to Jerome. I try so hard to make up songs as much as I can. I'm always trying to come up with poems, wraps, just ANYTHING to get my kiddos engaged. His application of math to every day is amazing.
Great site, good call, Amanda.
Very impressive school! As mentioned this school exemplifies, to the highest degree, ALL the characteristics of TWB. You hear so much about how important the arts are and this school is taking this to heart. The students have so many options to choose from that I'm sure every student can find something they're interested in. I love the fact the students have the opportunity to have their work published, to me it shows how much the school values their students and their futures.
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